Legislature(2005 - 2006)BELTZ 211
04/22/2005 01:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB171 | |
| HB229 | |
| HB184 | |
| SB179 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 184 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | HB 229 | ||
| = | SB 171 | ||
| = | SB 179 | ||
SB 171-NPR-A COMMUNITY GRANT PROGRAM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced SB 179 to be up for consideration.
1:33:06 PM
SENATOR GARY WILKEN, Sponsor, distributed a map to indicate
community proximity to oil & gas drilling and exploration
activity in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska.
With regard to Ms. Burke's earlier challenge questioning the
authority and latitude of the Legislature to analyze, rank and
fund grants to communities, he said the bill is on course and
does just what Judge Carpeneti told the Legislature to do.
[Susan Burke testimony, 4/22/05 SCRA hearing on SB 171] He
acknowledged she had several good suggestions and they would be
incorporated in the Finance Committee.
He asked the committee to pass the bill on to the Finance
Committee where it is already scheduled pending referral.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted the bill has two fiscal notes.
1:36:23 PM
SENATOR DONNY OLSON said his district includes the NPR-A and his
perspective is different than the sponsor's. Because a number of
legal questions were raised during the previous hearing, he
asked the committee to take no action until it receives an
opinion from the attorney general. It makes sense to wait and
get detailed answers to some of the legal questions that were
raised because the issue has a history of legal questions. Also,
it's important to wait and hear about the impacts to the people
that are living in the communities. That's difficult to do on
short notice when the whaling/subsistence time is near.
He pointed out that in the past, the people from the North Slope
have partnered with the State of Alaska and the successful vote
on ANWAR bears witness to that. He suggested that relationship
would be strained if the Legislature were to meddle with the
impact money that goes to these communities. He noted there was
already one lawsuit challenging the impacts to the area that
went in favor of the plaintiffs.
Impact means different things to different people and it's
shortsighted to simply look at well locations to determine the
impact on the North Slope and in the NPR-A. He distributed
several maps of the area showing that active, trial, and
abandoned oil and gas wells are located throughout the NPR-A and
seismic activity crisscross the entire region. Certainly these
maps indicate impact to the land and to the animals that live on
the land, he said.
A map showing current and proposed oil and gas lease areas
indicates that leases are reaching farther to the west, which
makes it clear that the impact isn't in just the northeast
corner. The impact is spread throughout the NPR-A area. Although
rivers and streams aren't shown, he estimated that at least 100
fish and caribou camps operate in the area and seismic activity
would definitely impact the people and animals in the area.
Noting that the sponsor had already scheduled the bill in
another committee, he asked members to recognize the people that
are impacted and to wait to hear from them before taking action
on the bill.
1:45:45 PM
SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER said he would like to hear about the
positive impacts.
SENATOR OLSON said he didn't want to give the impression that
all the impact is negative. As the sponsor pointed out, there
are more positive impacts to the activity in the NPR-A than
negative. People going up to the NPR-A do business when they go
through Fairbanks and as a result, there are more jobs in
Fairbanks.
1:47:08 PM
SENATOR BERT STEDMAN asked if the residents in the area derive
benefit from the activity in the NPR-A in terms of improved jobs
and better lifestyles.
SENATOR OLSON said he doesn't know if there are more jobs, but
speaking as a physician, the lifestyle of Native and non-Natives
in the area has improved.
The sponsor questioned the merit of using funds for the small
boat launch ramp in Wainwright, but it does make sense, he said.
As seismic activity increases and the caribou are driven away,
the area residents need to venture farther up river to
subsistence hunt. That's why the launch ramp facility is
reasonable even though it's a long way from the closest
community.
SENATOR WAGONER suggested the new type of seismic activity might
not affect calving season as much as it has in the past.
SENATOR OLSON reiterated it's a good idea to wait and hear from
area residents.
1:52:03 PM
KATHY ASHBY, City Administrator, City of Nuiqsut, reported that
the council members were sending a letter. She applauded Senator
Olson for taking such a strong and loyal stand for people from
the North Slope Borough and for understanding many of the
impacts.
She remarked that it's ironic how very well informed Nuiqsut
people are if they want to be. Industry has meetings in the
community on a regular basis to explain what and how they are
doing. Residents are very involved and frequently voice their
opinions regarding how they will be impacted.
Although some argue that the bill opens NPR-A funds so that
people that don't live in the NPR-A can apply for them, that's
already being done, she said. The North Slope Borough applies
for funds on behalf of villages not all of which are in NPR-A.
As a city administrator with a background in public
administration, her personal contention is with the runaway
engine that DCCED has in administering grant funds. Her
interpretation of federal law and state statute is that the
compact is for DCCED to administer funds to impacted communities
on behalf of NPR-A. What has happened in Nuiqsut is anything but
that. She likened the community to a stepchild to the North
Slope Borough. She said "It would take me days to compile all of
the grants that have been taken away from it and been given to
the North Slope Borough." If Nuiqsut realized anything that was
instructive or contributed to local self-sufficiency or strong
local government, one might remain silent with the award
process. However, that process seems to have been onerous and
heavy handed.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked her to make certain her comments were
directed to the bill under consideration.
MS. ASHBY said the bill would take the authority to grant the
NPR-A awards from DCCED. Another review process would be
established with a six member committee and the finance
committees would make the final award. She lauds that idea
because, in her opinion, DCCED isn't doing a credible job. The
current grant process won't stand the light of day if a good
audit were conducted.
She applauded Senator Wilken for introducing the bill, but
cautioned against going too far.
1:59:17 PM
SENATOR WAGONER noted there was a transportation proposal last
year to build a bridge and he was curious where that was
located.
SENATOR OLSON told him it would cross the Coleville River south
of Nuiqsut.
2:00:22 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS referenced page 3, lines 19-21 and asked
Senator Wilken for clarification regarding whether the
recommendations had gone through the full legislative process.
SENATOR WILKEN acknowledged it might need further clarification.
The intent and the way the system works is that the special
committee recommendations will go to the full Finance Committees
and be incorporated into the capital budget.
SENATOR WAGONER asked what the procedure would be if the bill
moves to finance. With regard to Senator Olson's suggestion he
noted that during the interim, hearings pertaining to SB 85
would be held on the North Slope. Dealing with the two issues
during the same timeframe might be advantageous.
SENATOR WILKEN said his intention is to get the bill to finance
where he will make a presentation and get input. Decisions are
required regarding what the Legislature wants to do with the
existing $24 million in grants, he said. He didn't intend to
move the bill out of finance this year.
2:05:30 PM
SENATOR WAGONER motioned to report SB 171 and attached fiscal
notes from committee with individual recommendations. There
being no objection, it was so ordered.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said he had been asked to do a roll call
vote. The motion carried 3 to 0 with Senators Stedman, Wagoner
and Chair Gary Stevens voting yea.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|